


Momentary

by Delatrista



Series: Miphvali Oneshots [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: F/M, Revali: ...unless, Revali: haha I don't feel anything for Mipha..., Unrequited Crush, join me in rarepair hell ya'll
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-04
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:55:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27867990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delatrista/pseuds/Delatrista
Summary: She had said to him, once, that there was poetry in the way he wielded his weapon. Of course, she had been correct about that, though he had appreciated the compliment all the same. But as his eyes tracked the crimson trail she carved ever downward, with the falls splitting at her feet as though she commanded the tide with her will alone, he thought in amazement, there is song in the way she moves like water.
Relationships: Mipha/Revali (Legend of Zelda)
Series: Miphvali Oneshots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046662
Comments: 9
Kudos: 64





	Momentary

The land of the Zora was like something out of a fairy tale.

Spires of glowing rocks rose from the earth in gentle slopes, their azure shapes glistening and shifting in the sunlight which refracted in multi-colored shades of yellow, blue, and pink. The light from these formations cast a dim luminescence on the land at all hours of the day, giving the cool atmosphere an ethereal quality. Vivid formations of pink and blue coral dotted the landscape, interspersed with dense forests of tall pine trees. So thick were their green needles, they could form a solid canopy over the woodland floor beneath, where all variety of wildlife flourished. Families of deer would lay to nap beneath the strange bushes, while hightail lizards were quick to dart from underneath boulders scattered about, and all manner of butterflies flitted between the wildflowers.

Away from the tranquil peace of the forests, the rivers of the domain cut through the mountains like veins, snaking towards the lowlands with quiet, powerful intensity. White foam rushed against the gravel of the riverbanks, and no small amount of fish could be seen leaping from the base of the countless waterfalls which cascaded with dull, life-like roars.

Occasionally, large, slim forms that were most certainly not fish could be spotted racing against the current. A cacophony of scales could be seen beneath the waters, flitting just enough out of sight to be mistaken for a trick of the eye.

Such a thing was impossible to happen to a Rito; nothing could deceive their hawk-like sight. But as Revali coasted atop the bubble of a current of warm air, he wondered if perhaps he was only imagining the graceful shadows which flickered in the rivers beneath him.

Further out in the distance, the capital of the Zora’s homeland loomed out of a wide basin, framed against a backdrop of insurmountable waterfalls and gray cliff-sides. The scale of it was massive, even from the distance at which Revali still remained from it. His eyes darted over as much as he could see, greedily taking in the flowing azure waterways, the soft aquamarine glow of the luminous stones that studded the architecture in lavish quantities, and most of all, the towering sculpture, reminiscent of a catfish with its tail curled up gracefully above its head, at the crown of the city.

That place, where the statue jutted proudly out of the lake, was where he figured his final destination lay.

All of the Champions had been summoned to Zora’s Domain days prior, through letters which had been penned in Princess Zelda’s careful cursive. The paper, which ostensibly indicated a ceremony would be underway in the watery kingdom, was tucked carefully into the travel pack slung across his back.

It truly didn’t strike Revali as something worth his time. While the landscape may have been splendorous to behold, he certainly wouldn’t be improving his combative prowess by…sightseeing. And as he angled towards a solitary, long bridge which led into a vast courtyard, he wondered if he could bow out of this earlier than the princess may have originally intended.

A few minutes later, he landed with a quiet rush of air swirling at his back, and the gale he had generated in his flight pushed forward underneath the rows of intricate archways which encased the entryway into the capital, while his talons clicked gently on the cool, damp marble. With barely a feather out of place as well, he noticed, and his beak turned up into a small smirk at the display.

The guards stationed at the end of the bridge seemed similarly impressed by the performance, and they saluted him with crisp movements as he approached.

“Master Revali,” one of them said, with no hesitation coloring his tone. He turned his head towards the guard, whose green scales and clean silver spear shimmered in the turquoise glow of the luminous stones. “Welcome to Zora’s Domain. Lady Mipha is in the throne room with the rest of the Champions. They arrived just before you.”

It was certainly nice to be addressed with his proper title without the need to introduce himself, he mused. He normally wouldn’t have received this sort of welcome outside of his own people.

“Would you care for an escort to show you the way?” Another guard asked. Revali turned to face him, before he shook his head.

“I believe I can find my way there,” he said, and then continued forward with no further delay, fully entering the Zora’s capital city.

It seemed far larger, now that he was walking within it rather than flying above it. Wide staircases branched off on either side of the primary courtyard, and the sound of bubbling water wove underneath the conversations that groups of Zora held on the outskirts of the expanse. This close to the architecture, he could make out intricate lines carved into the blue stone, creating patterns which spiraled endlessly through the otherwise blank expanses. The green lights which lit the city bounced off of the rivulets of water which cascaded down the stairways, and through small canals which were carved around the perimeter of the courtyard.

The gratuitous marble and gems were a far cry from the wood and rope which were commonplace in his own homeland, and very much foreign, but Revali had to hand it to the Zora. They certainly had an eye for beauty.

He ascended one of the staircases on foot, beginning the journey upwards towards the final level. He figured there was no need to show up the Champions by arriving in an overly gratuitous display. Flying directly into a throne room would have been too much, even for his own sensibilities.

As he went, he became well aware of eyes being drawn to him; or more specifically, the blue scarf which hung about his neck, with the geometrical image of a bird proudly stitched in with white thread. He couldn’t help the slight puff of his feathers underneath the attention, the pride which surged whenever he was recognized as a Champion, a hero in his own right.

He didn’t need to be handed his status on a silver platter. Or in an indigo and gold scabbard, as it were. He had worked for where he was, and he was glad that people of all creeds were finally taking notice of it.

Once he reached the final staircase leading into the grand throne room, he finally heard a thunderous laugh emerge from above the gentle rush of water. He climbed towards it at a leisurely pace, and wondered how likely it would be that he could get a decent spar in with one of his colleagues. He may as well try to make this trip worth his efforts.

The throne room’s high ceiling was cast in shadows which fell down along the pillars which encased it, and the large audience stands which faced the massive, water-filled throne at the far end of the enclosure. It currently remained empty; the King of the Zora likely had more important things to attend to other than overseeing a gathering of Hyrule’s Champions.

In his place, a group of five stood on the dais before the the throne.

Princess Zelda stood with her back to the entrance, with her blonde hair falling freely down her back, and already appearing far more comfortable in her traveling attire than the last time Revali had seen her in her formal gowns, weeks prior in Hyrule Castle. Her ever present shadow remained only a few steps behind her, and staggered only slightly to her right. Revali’s eyes narrowed at the gleam of gold which shimmered off of the scabbard on his back, before he turned his focus away from the boy-knight.

Urbosa stood at the center of the ring, her flame-red hair standing out brilliantly amongst the cool shades of the throne room. Both she and Daruk appeared largely unaffected by the chilled atmosphere, despite them wearing very little to cover their exposed skin. The Goron man was laughing about something— as he frequently did, much to Revali’s chagrin— while the Gerudo chief’s attention remained focused on the Hylian princess.

As Revali approached the gathering, he spread his wings out in a half-hearted attempt at a bow, despite no-one having yet taken notice of him. “My apologies for the wait,” he said smoothly.

Mipha was the first to respond to him. She stood on the outskirts, just on the edge of the dais. Her head was tilted slightly to the side as she listened to her companions with amicable patience, and the aquamarine and yellow fin which adorned her forearm swayed slightly in a breeze which washed throughout the room. Her hands were curled delicately around the shaft of her trident that she had pressed into the stone floor, and when she turned to face him, the jewelry which adorned her head chimed softly with her movement.

She greeted him first with a close-lipped smile, and he ascended the raised platform to stand between the two princesses.

“Hello, Revali,” the Zora princess said. “Did you have a safe trip?”

Daruk had trailed off into silence in the interim of Revali making his presence known, and the Rito Champion’s gaze darted down to meet Mipha’s.

“It was uneventful,” he answered. He had half a mind to ask why he needed to be there at all, but he bit the question back before it had a chance to bubble to the surface. It wouldn’t do to cause a scene mere moments after showing up, and being the last to arrive, no less.

Still, it wasn’t his fault that the scenery had been so captivating. He could pass off the time he had spent gazing at the mountains and the lakes as an exercise in surveying a potential battlefield, if anyone asked.

The others turned to face him as he stared at Mipha, who continued to face him with her ever-persistent, patient smile.

Revali wasn’t sure what it was about the Zora princess, but that familiar look always pierced through him like a spear, and managed to make his feathers stand on end.

“Well then,” Princess Zelda interjected. She offered Revali a small nod by way of greeting when he glanced her way, before she continued. “Now that we’re all here…would you like to give us a tour, Mipha?”

“I would be honored,” the Zora Champion answered immediately. Her voice was pitched low and soft, just barely audible over the distant crash of the waterfalls. Revali folded his wings at his back while the girl turned on her heel to lead the way out of the throne room.

He wondered why they bothered. Zelda had been to the kingdom of the Zora numerous times over the years, of that he had no doubt. As royalty, she had a role to play in personally seeing to the relations of her kingdom with all the races of the land. Even Link was well familiar with the domain; Revali had learned early on into the Champions’ shared training that he and Mipha had been close in his childhood.

A sneer threatened to cross his beak while he watched the boy follow three steps behind the Hylian princess. So many connections at his disposal, and he made no use of them. It was as perplexing as it was irritating, how much the boy took for granted.

He kept himself quiet as he placed himself directly at Link’s back, however. He was willing to play nice, no matter how much his fellow Champions thought him incapable of such a task.

..:|:..

The princess’s tour led their group along endless winding walkways suspended above the great lake which housed the capital, up and down the spiraling staircases which spanned the city and served as the main form of reaching the upper and lower levels at one’s leisure, and past numerous overflowing fountains which studded the cityscape. He hadn’t even realized how expansive the city even was; from the sky, it had seemed as though only the few slopes he had seen made up its design. He was proven wrong when he learned that much of it extended beneath the water, into vast caverns which had been chiseled into smooth walls and ceilings, and embedded with luminous stones to lighten the damp gloom.

And all the while, Mipha’s voice urged them along, a siren’s call that beckoned them deeper into the depths of the Zora’s realm. So much of it was alien to anything Revali had ever experienced in his lifetime; eventually, he was left wondering whether the Champions had been transported to another world entirely, back in the moment they had crossed the threshold of the surface world and delved into the underground society beneath the lake.

Revali’s talons were aching by the time they had circled back around to the surface. By then, plenty of hours had passed, and the early afternoon sun had dipped below the ridges of the hills which encased the capital in the deep basin it was situated in. The bright azure of the sky had dimmed to rich shades of orange and yellow, while pale indigo clouds hovered low on the horizon.

They were making their way across one of the three bridges which connected the city to the surrounding landscape at the same leisurely pace Mipha had set at the beginning of this excursion. His eyes were fixed on her back as they moved, following the way her fins swayed with her movement.

It was mesmerizing, in a strange sort of way. It had a way of making her seem like she was somehow still swimming, despite clearly walking on the land.

“Every year, we hold a festival in commemoration of the annual melting of the waterfalls.” Mipha’s footsteps padded softly on the stone walkway, and he followed the line of her arm as she gestured out towards just one of those roaring falls in question. “It’s also a chance for many of the younglings to demonstrate their abilities. Climbing one’s first waterfall is a rite of passage.”

Revali was certain that it all must have been very fascinating, but as he stared at the wall of water which had captivated Mipha’s attention, he still wasn’t grasping why it was so important for _all_ of the Champions to be here. His eyes darted towards Daruk, who was also following the Zora Champion’s gaze, and stroking the ends of his stark white beard in contemplation. To him, this seemed like the last thing to need a Goron’s involvement. Or a Rito, he thought. He could fly straight up right now, if it pleased him. There was no need for a _waterfall_ , of all things, to aid him in ascending.

Well, if no-one else was going to take it upon themselves to ask what he was sure they were all thinking in these last few hours, he may as well get it over with.

“Yes, yes…I can see the importance,” he began. His voice, already naturally boisterous, raised even louder to be heard over the thunder surrounding the walkway they stood on.

Mipha, and by extension the other Champions, had halted, and five sets of eyes fell on him while he placed his wing on his hip. He nodded in the direction of the waterfall the Zora princess had been showing them, once he was aware of the attention. “But why, exactly, do _we_ need to be here?”

Daruk’s gaze darted to the side, where beside him Princess Zelda had her hands clasped in front of her. Revali focused on him for a moment, and he watched as one of the Goron’s brows lifted in silent query. He held back a smirk from crossing his beak; it seemed to clear to him that he wasn’t the only one who was thinking that same question. Though when his attention shifted towards Urbosa, who stood at the Hylian princess’s back, her stare was unreadable as ever. The only display of emotion on her expression was a slight frown that had turned the corners of her mouth.

He didn’t bother looking at Link. There would be nothing to see there; the boy’s face was always as smooth as glass. Revali had often wondered what it would take to cause even a crack to appear on his carefully blank facade.

Zelda’s lips parted, intent on answering the question herself, but the soft ring of Mipha’s voice cut through the consistent rush of water before she had the chance to speak.

“The princess felt it would be good for all of us to learn some of the customs of each other’s cultures,” she explained. Revali’s attention snapped back to the Zora Champion, who had turned to face him fully. The weight of her amber eyes was surprisingly firm while she regarded him, giving him the sense that she wanted to say something further.

But then the princess in question decided to speak up. “The six of us must work together in preparation for the Calamity,” said Zelda. Her eyes were unflinching as she stared Revali down. “And because we all come from such different walks of life, it would do the people good to see our Champions getting to know the ways the other races live. It will help boost the kingdom’s morale.” She finished with a nod of her head, as if affirming this to herself more than she was to Revali.

“And since the falls have recently melted,” Mipha continued, with her eyes still trained on him, “the festival begins tonight. I thought this would be the perfect place to start. Do you disagree?”

Revali held her stare and, for once, he remained silent in the face of a challenge.

In the few months since the Champions had been appointed to their stations, he had only ever known the Zora princess to be as calm as a babbling brook. She was the mediator of their entourage, the commonality that softened Urbosa’s short temper, that smoothed over Daruk’s raucous demeanor. She even managed to lessen Zelda’s propensity for going too far into her own head, and was capable of bridging the gaps caused by Link’s lack of social graces. Revali, too, could find himself being chastised by her soft-spoken platitudes and praises. But even though she was usually as gentle and graceful as the spring rain, she too had a hint of steel underneath the surface, a trait which he had been given scarce few opportunities to acquaint himself with…but he had been witness to it, nonetheless.

Because even though the Zora were a race with close ties to more docile fish, their appearances belied a shark-like edge which hovered just behind their razor sharp teeth.

Those teeth which Mipha hadn’t yet bared towards him, but seemed to be on the verge of doing so, as that familiar patient smile stretched thin on her lips while she observed him.

He was the first to break his stare away, and focused his attention on the waterfall she had been pointing out to them before he had spoken. He scoffed under his breath, before he glanced back at her.

“No,” he answered, his voice clipped.

The princesses had a point, even if he was loathe to admit it. He may not be a chieftain or a princess, but he understood just as well as the rulers he stood amongst that improving relations among the varied cultures of Hyrule would no doubt be good for everyone involved. There was a future after the Calamity to consider, after all. It was all just so _mundane_. He had better things he could be doing with his time, instead of lounging around and gazing at waterfalls for however long they would be here!

His eyes shifted back towards the princess when the silence stretched for too long between their little group. Once he focused on her, Mipha didn’t look as though she believed his answer. After a moment, her head tilted to the side as she studied him. It was an action which struck him as distinctly _Rito_ in appearance, with how abrupt the movement was, and he fought to conceal a jolt rippling underneath his feathers from his surprise at that analysis. Her jewelry brushed together gently over the gleaming crimson of her scales in the evening light, and he blinked against the brightness which bounced off of her.

It was too much. In that moment, the princess of the Zora was more captivating than he would have liked to admit; and he would prefer to admit nothing at all if he had the choice. He had to look somewhere else, anywhere else. The honey color of her eyes blazed as she stared at him from beneath the shadowed ridge of her brow, threatening to draw him into their depths. He could feel the feathers on his cheeks threatening to prickle, and that…would simply not do. Those _feelings_ which were stirred by the red and gold figure before him, whatever they were, were unacceptable.

He jerked his head to the side, and his eyes landed on Link. The boy’s blue eyes seemed to stare straight through him, as though he couldn’t be bothered to pay attention to what was currently transpiring.

Well, that certainly served to sour the strange shift in his mood.

The quiet chimes of silver and gems grew louder for a moment, and then began to fade away. Revali turned his attention forward once again, and he was met with Mipha’s back. Her Lightscale Trident bounced minutely with her movements, and the main body of the fin on her head swished over it while she turned away.

“Very well,” she called over her shoulder, and her acquiescence served as the order for Zelda and her Champions to continue following her down the walkway with no further interruptions.

Revali trailed behind Daruk, bringing up the rear of the group, from there on out.

However, he could still hear the delicate jangle of silver and scales, despite the distance.

..:|:..

All across the capital city, crowds of Zora filled the bridges and walkways, and were spilling out in multi-colored waves down towards the edges of the lakes which surrounded the domain.

Revali had to admit that the effect of so many different colors and races of Zora was gorgeous, even on the ground. Their voices carried across the thundering of the water, weaving throughout the noise in a strange form of harmony. As he stared around at the weaving throngs of denizens he wondered, momentarily, what it would look like from the darkened sky; he could imagine the basin lit up from below with aquamarine hues reflecting off of the indigo waters, with the jewel-toned scales of the people below intermingling in a strange recreation of the ebbs and flows of water itself. The urge to take to the air was strong, for that reason, and for one other which he refused to admit to anyone else…

He held back an indignant squawk as an elbow— or similar bone-like appendage, he couldn’t be quite sure with these Zora and their fins— jutted into his shoulder, and settled for a vicious scowl sent in the direction of the tall Zora who had pushed past him in complete disregard for the space he was currently occupying.

Flightless species. They had no respect for personal space, despite having so little of it. 

Revali grumbled to himself as he turned away from his latest annoyance, and focused instead on the lake in front of him with his wings crossed over his breastplate.

The Champions had been given places of honor at the shore alongside King Dorephan and Prince Sidon, though the two members of the Zora Royal Family had yet to interact with them outside of an initial greeting. Princess Zelda had been the only one to spend an extended period of time with the gargantuan king thus far, and as Revali glanced over at the man, he noticed a glimmer of gold peering out from the other side of his form.

He turned his attention back towards the scene in front of him, and tilted his head upward towards the large marble shelf which hung over the water tumbling down the cliffside. It was here, at the waterfall which he had come to learn was dubbed the Veiled Falls, that Mipha herself would begin the festival.

The princess in question stood off to the side of the lake, away from the roiling crowds, and had her head bowed as she spoke with an unusual Zora man. The shape of his head was flatter and longer than some of the others Revali had seen thus far. His fins extended down either side of his face, framing the wide width of his tiny yellow eyes, while a smaller tail extended down his back in a thin line, and two narrow pieces of antenna drooped on either side of his mouth. His scales, a shade of light green, shimmered dully in the turquoise lighting surrounding the lake.

Revali watched as she smiled at the man, and once again tilted her head in that unusually Rito manner while she listened to whatever he was saying close to her ear.

His brow furrowed when he noticed his heartbeat moving slightly faster in his chest.

It was nothing, he reasoned. Just nerves from being in such a dense crowd.

It didn’t matter that the only people immediately around him now were his fellow Champions; the greater portion of the Zora were finally being kept away from the lakeside by a line of guards at his back.

He focused on studying Mipha’s weapon, instead, hoping it would calm his frayed composure. He could, after all, admire the craftsmanship of weaponry other than his own, though he’d never admit to it if anyone asked. Even from the distance he stood at, he could make out the tiny gems which dangled from the bases of the Lightscale Trident’s prongs, as they shimmered in hues of pinks and yellows whenever she shifted the shaft in her hands. It stood well over a few heads over Mipha; the first time Revali had seen her with it, he had questioned whether she could even use it without toppling over on the first swing.

He’d learned his lesson when she had leveled the prongs against the soft expanse of his jugular, the first time they had spared.

It was a gorgeous weapon, elegant and composed entirely of smooth lines. The Lightscale Trident’s beauty was befitting of its wielder entirely—

He choked on the thought, and he felt a palm the size of a small boulder press against his back while he hacked and fought to make his lungs function properly again.

When he glared up at Daruk through the puff of his feathers rising on his cheeks, the Goron man was grinning at him with a sheepish look to his eyes.

“What’s the matter?” the other Champion asked, “don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little water.”

Revali’s glare deepened, and he shook the massive hand off of his shoulders with a harsh jerk. “Of course not,” he spat. Honestly, of all the things he could have interpreted from that rather embarrassing reaction, that’s what he got out of it…?

Well, at least he hadn’t caught on to what he’d actually been thinking.

He shot a glance back towards where the princess had been, only to find that she had disappeared from the shoreline. Her companion had retreated further from the lakeside, and stood shadowed beneath the cover of a trio of pine trees away from the shore.

His eyes darted away. Where could Mipha have gone, he wondered? He had taken his eyes off of her for a moment, and yet he couldn’t find any sign of crimson or yellow in sight. Surely the ceremony hadn’t started yet.

When he looked out across the lake, he had his answer.

The princess’s head barely wavered in the water as she treaded in place, with the prongs of her trident rising from behind her back in graceful peaks. With his eyesight, Revali could make out crystal beads of water which adorned the spotless silver of the jewelry affixed to her brow and the crown of her head, the dewdrops reflecting just as clearly as the crystals there.

Her soft yellow eyes stared in front of her. She looked calm and assured, as though she were merely waiting for the crowds to take notice of where she was.

A part of Revali’s mind wondered what the reason could possibly be for why no-one would see her, given the striking image she cut in the water.

A louder part of Revali’s mind told the previous portion to shut its beak.

He clenched the fingers of his wings tight when, at last, the booming voice of King Dorephan rang out, and echoed off of the water and the stone which encased the entire kingdom. It was a welcome distraction from his internal arguing.

“Today,” he announced, “we begin the celebration of spring’s arrival.”

Thunderous applause rose up at Revali’s back. He kept his attention on Mipha through the noise, even though he fought to keep his mind as empty as the skies. For a moment, her eyes remained on her father’s figure as she continued to bob gently in her place through the cheers. Revali tilted his head as he observed her; moving at the same moment as her attention flicked over to him.

He jolted at the pierce her amber eyes sent through his chest.

The smile she sent him was, admittedly, miniscule. It wouldn’t have been noticeable if it weren’t for the grace of his species being able to spot details from thousands of yards away, and he found he had no idea how to respond to it once he realized she was smiling at _him_.

It was worlds apart from the firm, confrontational air she had projected on the bridge which had overlooked the Veiled Falls, hours before. That hint of steel was gone; now she looked as soft as gossamer.

He settled for a nod, figuring that was good enough of an acknowledgement.

“And furthermore,” King Dorephan continued, “we welcome our esteemed guests.” Revali’s head twisted to the side, finally breaking from his shared stare with Mipha, to stare up at the Zora king. The monarch’s arm was raised outward to gesture towards the Champions who stood further down the shore from him.

“The Champions of Hyrule, who have come from all corners of the world to partake in our festivities.”

More applause and cheers rang forth. The king turned to face the five of them more fully, and Revali barely noticed as Zelda peeked around from behind the man’s arm. “Thank you, Champions, for joining us tonight.”

The princess shot all of them a supportive smile from her place across the shore, where the emerald of her eyes glinted as she applauded alongside the rest of the Zora citizens. Revali wondered if he should bow; it would perhaps seem a tad unnecessary, though. He didn’t see any of his companions were doing so, though that admittedly didn’t say much. Daruk wasn’t the type to simply bow and remain silent, and Revali couldn’t imagine Urbosa doing such a thing in front of anyone. The only time he ever witnessed Link do something as expressive as bowing was to King Rhoam; he never acknowledged the endless praise which was heaped upon him.

Oh, well. Revali would hate to steal their thunder, if he decided to be the only Champion to graciously accept the cheers being levied for them.

“We will commence with Her Highness, Princess Mipha, as she undertakes the first dive of the ceremony.”

Revali turned his attention back towards the Zora Champion, still floating in the middle of the lake.

An unnatural hush fell over the crowds behind him, and even the air itself seemed to fall still, in a way he only felt whenever he was the only one to be amongst the clouds. In the silence, Mipha’s eyes darted across a space somewhere far above her head. Likely taking in the sheer amount of the Zora who were crowded along the domain’s walkways and bridges, with all of their kingdom’s attention being focused squarely on her.

Then, she leapt out of the water without warning. Thick trails followed her feet as she cleared the surface, and scattered into arcs that spread away from her legs, before she dove headfirst beneath the depths. Ripples surged gently from the place where she had vanished into the dark. The crowd remained still and quiet, as they waited for what would happen next.

Revali kept his eyes on the spot where she had vanished, focusing on any sign of movement he could discern beneath the surface. Between the darkness of the water and the white foam of the waterfall’s base, however, he couldn’t see much at all.

With the more time that passed since she went under, the more Revali wondered if Zora could somehow drown. Surely, Mipha wouldn’t take this long in order to begin her ascent? He turned towards Daruk, with words of barbed concern on his tongue ready to be made heard—

—Before he had the chance to speak, water _erupted_ from the bottom of the waterfall.

A red and silver blur surged up the cascading tide; pale blue and yellow shards of light refracted off of its form as it sped vertically into the air. It would leap out of the water in sporadic, powerful bursts, causing droplets to rain down onto the lake’s surface as it went.

Revali could make out the thin form of the Lightscale Trident in the blur’s grasp while it raced higher and continued to jump out of the Veiled Falls. As he continued to watch the weapon cut its own trail through the water, he realized that the blur was Mipha.

His head tilted back to watch as she went further, and before he could realize what was happening, she burst out of the top of the waterfall.

Water trailed off the ends of her fins, shimmering like diamonds in the rising light of the stars. Both her hands grasped her weapon in a light hold as she somersaulted in the air, and the silver of it glinted while she arced. When she landed on both feet, she appeared almost to float back to the earth instead of engaging in something as uninteresting as _falling_ , and she spun to look down on the lake from which she had originated with the moon haloing her at her back.

The crowd burst into cheer from all sides, and he was partially tempted to join them. As it was, he remained silent while Daruk roared his support to the Zora princess. Even Urbosa was clapping, when Revali turned his head to gauge their reactions.

Link was stoic as ever, though his attention was fixated squarely at the top of the waterfall.

Revali turned his eyes back towards that direction. He was too awestruck to be annoyed at the boy-knight’s presence in that moment. He had rarely been witness to such displays of mastery, even from himself.

Mipha once again stood patiently as she waited for her people to settle back into a quiet state.

Heartbeats passed as she remained still at the top of the Veiled Falls. And then she leapt forward, cradling her weapon to her chest and curling into herself as she remained suspended in the air.

His heart felt like it jumped with her.

She had said to him, once, that there was poetry in the way he wielded his weapon. Of course, she had been correct about that, though he had appreciated the compliment all the same. But as his eyes tracked the crimson trail she carved ever downward, with the falls splitting at her feet as though she commanded the tide with her will alone, he thought in amazement, _there is song in the way she moves like water_.

She rode the falls with her trident, repeatedly separating from the cascade before she returned to it, until she reached a point midway down. There, she pushed off of the water, and dove headfirst back into the depths of the lake.

More droplets rained down to follow her, and scattered across the surface of the water in soft drips.

The silence remained until the last drop of water fell. Once the surface of the lake went still, the Zora erupted into applause that vastly outmatched the previous cheers they had emitted for their princess.

Her head pierced the surface of the water in quicker time than it had taken for her to begin her ascent up the Veiled Falls, and she raised the Lightscale Trident high above her head in triumphant acknowledgement of her people’s cries of joy. Then, she swam leisurely towards the shore.

When she walked out of the lake, Revali couldn’t take his eyes off of her even if he had wanted to.

She emerged closest to the side where the Champions stood, and took her time in approaching them. Water fell off of her in generous quantities, though much still clung to her jewelry and her scales, and darkened the cloth of her Champion’s sash from bright azure to a dull, dusky blue. Not one piece of adornment appeared out of place on her, and the smile that lit up her features felt like it could warm his feathers from its intensity.

As she approached her companions, her attention fixed on Revali, first.

He didn’t know whether to be thankful for that, or to wish the earth would open beneath his talons to swallow him whole. The amber of her eyes were almost swallowed entirely by the black of her pupils, and the blue-green glow of the luminous stones which studded the shimmering cliffs reflected off of her crimson scales in strange patterns. She looked ethereal, with a single-minded focus as she stalked across the damp grass towards him.

She hooked the Lightscale Trident into its holster on her back while she walked, and she eventually came to a stop in front of him.

At his back, he could sense Daruk’s rumbling steps as he moved to approach Mipha, but he found he could only pay attention to the lone, dripping princess in front of him, while his heart pounded in his throat.

Mipha’s head tilted. He remained still under her scrutiny, and counted the drops of water which fell off of the delicate fins which adorned her forearms.

“So, Revali,” she began, “was it worth being here tonight?”

He didn’t think he could forget what he had seen if he tried, but answering her query with speech wasn’t exactly at the forefront of his thoughts in that moment. His tongue was glued to the top of his beak, and though he could only nod his assent to what she had asked of him, in his mind he was lamenting how the graceful princess of the Zora had fully, utterly captured his attention.

She accepted his silent answer with another smile, this one bearing the sharp angles of her teeth as her red lips split. His heart fluttered higher up his throat at the sight, and he feared if it went any further, it would burst out from his beak.

Coming here had certainly been worth his time, he thought, as he watched the princess saunter past him towards the remaining Champions, before moving towards her father and brother, the latter of whom was jumping in place high enough for the enormous weight of his fin to bounce off of the grass. But it had also taken several years off his lifespan, if the amount of times his heart stopped when Mipha so much as looked at him had anything to say about it. Still, he figured it was a worthwhile trade-off, as he noticed her shoot a final honeyed glance towards him from over her pale red shoulder. The shared look lasted only a moment, and when the warm glow of her yellow eyes slid off of him, he spurned what the chill that overtook his feathers could mean to him.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay but we can all agree that Mipha's line in AoC, "Revali, so graceful. There is poetry in the way you wield your weapon," is prime shipping material, right? Anyways, I took that sentence and made it far more important than it was ever intended to be, and I have no shame about that.


End file.
